Policy & Practice | February 2022

technology speaks By Molly Tierney

Capacity for Change: Is the Child Welfare Workforce Equipped for Race Equity?

F or child welfare leaders, the phrase “workforce capacity” often connotes efforts to improve caseload allocation or case- worker training with an eye toward greater efficiency. The trouble is, child welfare is not a system that should make cost savings its goal. Child welfare is a system that needs to focus on enabling better results for the families and children it supports. In child welfare,

arguably the most important aspect of

is immersed—and on their own—with the people in the virtual environment. Once headsets are off, participants come together as a group to reflect on and learn from their experiences. Child welfare leaders who are using VR for recruiting, onboarding, and training are seeing results in the form of lower turnover. But how might we use this technology in the fight for race equity? What CanToryTeach Us? Tory is a 13-year-old boy who lives only in virtual reality. Tory identifies as gay, which is creating conflict with his dad, Ben. There may have been some violence between them. Adding to the challenges is Tory’s mom, Cynthia, who is very dysfunctional. While Tory and his family are virtual, their cir- cumstances—and complicated home

life—mirror what many people experi- ence in their real lives. While in the VR headset, the user becomes absorbed in the many facets of Tory’s world. Throughout the scenario, the user chooses from three possible questions to learn more about Tory and his parents. For example, you have a chance to ask Cynthia about her relationship with Ben. You could pose the question as “How’s your rela- tionship with Ben?” or “Is Ben a good husband?” Or you could inquire, “Is Ben Tory’s father?” At the end of the experience with Tory and his family, users come together to talk through a set of survey questions. Using a scale of one to 10, each participant responds to ques- tions, such as “How angry did you find

“workforce capacity” is our collective ability to bring empathy, demonstrate compassion, and deliver support to all families and children. Historically, our country has not per- formed well against that metric. Race bias in our work is a demographic fact, and a focus on efficiency improvements will do little or nothing to change that. How can we do the work of eradicating bias and driving race equity without increasing risks to families and children? I believe part of the answer includes technology tools designed specifically for this purpose. Virtual reality (VR), which lets case- workers practice in a realistic way, is one tool with the greatest potential. Unlike simulation rooms, VR scenarios enable dynamic interactions and a highly personal user experience. When wearing a VR headset, each caseworker

See Race Equity on page 20

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February 2022 Policy&Practice